Partial cation disorder in Li₂MnO₃ obtained by high-pressure synthesis

While atomic disorder has provided a paradigm shift in crystalline materials because of unusual atomic arrangements and functional response, “partial” disorder is scarcely reported until now. We discovered partial cation disorder in Li2MnO3 with fewer stacking faults, which was synthesized under high pressure. Mn and Li atoms in a Mn2/3Li1/3O2 layer disorder while Li atoms in a Li layer order. Magnetization and specific heat measurements indicate a long-range antiferromagnetic (AF) order below 35 K. The irreversibility observed in the magnetization data and the hump observed for the specific heat data suggest the coexistence of an AF order and a partial magnetic disorder. Neutron diffraction measurements reveal that the coexisted state is formed instead of the Néel AF state that has previously been reported for conventional Li2MnO3. These results indicate that high pressure makes a breakthrough to introduce partial disorder within crystals and designs not only a unique magnetic structure but also other physical properties.